


Distraction

by My_Beating_Hart



Series: A Mahariel's Travels [47]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 19:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3781165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Beating_Hart/pseuds/My_Beating_Hart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theron tries to help Oghren adjust to the world outside Orzammar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distraction

“So, is it very strange for you, my friend, living in the world of the tall?” Zevran asked the latest newcomer to their pack of misfits as they walked through the foothills of the Frostbacks.

Theron frowned to himself as he listened to Oghren’s armour rattling with every heavy step. Whenever the ranger looked over he could occasionally catch the dwarf squinting up through the trees to the sunlight and blue skies overhead.

“Here I thought I was living in the world of the nosy and the stupid.” The dwarf answered eventually, looking around at the sound of a bird’s clattering wings through the canopy, and Theron couldn’t stop himself from wondering if the dwarf had ever seen a bird before. If he’d spent all of his life underground in Orzammar, how much of the world had he seen for himself?

“It just occurred to me.” Zevran continued with a casual shrug, using the fine point of a dagger to dig dirt from underneath his fingernails as they walked along. “The chairs are too high. Tables are out of reach... Using the toilet facilities alone must be a lesson in humility.”

That riled the dwarf.

“I'm not bloody two feet tall, you swishy nug-licker!” He snapped, and Zevran chuckled even as he stepped round Theron, placing the group’s leader between himself and the berserker.

“And then the light!” The blond sighed, waving his dagger up towards the trees overhead that blotted out some of the sunlight, but not all of it. “After all that gloom of Orzammar and the Deep Roads, it's a wonder you don't wander about squinting in pain.”

Theron looked back at Oghren, who was rubbing his beard thoughtfully as he blinked up at the trees that towered over them all. If a Dalish elf who was born and raised amongst the light of the trees had no choice but to experience the confines of the Deep Roads, what if the opposite was true for a dwarf? What one of them called home and took for granted, the other found unwelcoming and an ordeal because it was so strange.

A year ago, the ranger couldn’t ever have imagined he would leave the forest and be forced out into the wide open world beyond. And now here he was, miles from home and at ease enough to welcome the sights and sounds of anywhere that wasn’t Orzammar and the tangled thorns of it’s politics.

It had taken Oghren a minute to venture down the steps outside Orzammar into the merchant camp once the doors had closed behind them. Theron had unexpectedly seen a little of himself in the dwarf.

Standing patiently as Oghren stared out and recollected himself had strongly reminded the Dalish elf of when Duncan had done the same for him. Standing on the very edge of the Brecilian Forest and waiting for him to step out from the shade of the trees into the sun and the blue expanse of sky that was no longer broken by enormous trees. As Duncan had given him time to adjust, Theron had given Oghren more than the minute he’d asked for.

“It is bright, I'll give you that.” The dwarf conceded gruffly, reluctantly.

“And... Oh! Not to have a roof over your head! You must constantly fear that you'll fall up into that vast, endlessly open sky.” The assassin carried on.

Theron smirked to himself. He’d never worried about that, but there’d always been something in him that worried over an unbroken field of view and an exposed sky. Like he too was exposed for anything else to see. Vulnerable, with no shadows or cover to hide within and observe the world safely. A mouse terrified of being seen by a hawk, or a halla racing for cover from a wolf pack.

“Uh…” Oghren looked back up at the sky through the leaves, and his clear unease drew the ranger from his own thoughts. The black-haired elf nudged the Antivan in the ribs, but Zevran kept going

“One day you live within the surety of a mountain, and then gone! Nothing but vacuum, nothing to stop you from being sucked up into the void, nothing to-”

“Stop!” The dwarf snapped, glaring up at the blond. “One more word and I chop you down where you stand!”

Zevran blinked calmly in response to the threat, sheathing the dagger he’d been using on his nails.

“You are a brave, brave little soldier, my friend.” The assassin replied solemnly, before he picked up the pace to walk with Alistair and Leliana rather than risk Oghren actually following through on the threat.

“Some days I can’t tell if he’s serious or not.” Theron offered before the lull between himself and the dwarf grew too long. Oghren ‘hmph’ed in response, and he gave the trees around them another wary look as a deer barked a warning somewhere in the undergrowth.

“How d’you stand it? All this surface air and greenery? Makin’ me feel sick. And the _noise_. Don’t the birds ever shut up?”

The Dalish elf bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling at Oghren’s expense.

“I’m used to it.” He shrugged. “I was raised in a far deeper forest than this. And the birds are only quiet when it’s dark, or there’s a predator afoot.” He added.

“Predators.” Oghren repeated flatly, scowling down at the muddy track before he let out a deep sigh and began to grumble into his beard to himself.

Theron looked ahead pensively, watching a yellow-tinged leaf flutter down towards them. Without even thinking of it, he stepped forwards to catch it before he fell back into place beside Oghren. As he twirled the leafstem between his finger and thumb, he could see Oghren looking up at him curiously. The elf narrowed his eyes as a thought occurred.

“Today I’m truly blessed.” He began. “The forest gods have deigned to give me a beautiful leaf that I will cherish forever.”

Oghren was staring at him, and Theron could feel Sten’s gaze prickling the back of his neck, but the ranger managed to keep a straight face.

“You elves are worse than Branka was on a good day.” The berserker announced, shaking his head. Theron tossed the leaf away with a grin, looking up towards the trees.

“Still, did it distract you from the sky?” He asked, trying to keep a hopeful tone out of his voice. Oghren was quiet, before he grunted.

“I… Guess so.” The redhead added reluctantly, and as they grew quiet and focused on walking, Oghren seemed to be slightly more at ease with the forest.

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this to Tumblr first, mostly because I couldn't think up a good title.  
> http://a-mahariels-travels.tumblr.com/post/116668982793/eyy-this-is-that-oghren-thing-i-was-talking-about  
> Inspired by this: http://nkedsnake.tumblr.com/post/114039750031/when-a-sizable-leaf-falls-on-my-head-today-i-am  
> 


End file.
